"The BBC strongly condemns this action, which is designed to disrupt audiences' free access to news and information," the BBC said. It didn't detail when the jamming started or whether it was continuing.

The blocking of the radio service follows the recent jamming of the BBC's Persian-language service in Iran. Also, last week, a BBC TV news crew was detained in China and its footage confiscated while the team looked into a cyber-espionage group in the country, according to the BBC.

"The deliberate and coordinated efforts by authorities in countries such as China and Iran illustrate the significance and importance of the role the BBC undertakes to provide impartial and accurate information to audiences around the world," said BBC director of global news Peter Horrocks.

Chinese officials didn't immediately comment on the suggestion that the country was interfering with the BBC World Service.

The World Service has a worldwide weekly audience of 239 million listeners.